Entertainment
Blake Lively Quotes About Pregnancy & Motherhood Are Incredibly Relatable
Best known as Serena from Gossip Girl, the woman who tried to launch Goop lite, and also Ryan Reynolds' wife, Blake Lively has been described as beautiful, ambitious, or put-together, but rarely does anyone call her relatable. It's not that she's out of touch, as other lifestyle brandinistas can be, but... she's not like us, right? Well, maybe not. Blake Lively's quotes about pregnancy and parenthood might actually show that, for the most part, a mom is a mom is a mom, and she's pretty darn cool.
Sure, she most often receives praise for dressing herself, something most moms do every day. And the rest of us don't have time to curate a website of overpriced denim and mason jars. And unfortunately, almost none of us are married to Marvel superheroes like Lively is, which is really, really unfair. But when it comes to raising our kids, there are more than a few similarities. Yes, there are the minor differences, too, like Lively's ability to buy her daughter, James, a castle if she really wanted to (I assume), but all parents love their kids, and all parents struggle through their lack of sleep (yes, even Lively), and really, all parents are in the same boat — at least in most cases. Check out how alike Lively and the average mom really are:
"If I could spit out a litter of kids, I would."
Lively has often been quoted talking about how she'd love to have 30 kids. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but in 2014, the actress told Marie Claire that she was eager to get started (she announced her first pregnancy two months later, so perhaps she already had). I'm a one-and-done parent, myself, but if I had wanted more, I also would have done them all at once if possible.
"My mom was someone who juggled everything."
At the ninth annual L’Oréal Women of Worth Awards in 2014, a pregnant Lively explained why she's so comfortable balancing a multifaceted career with motherhood, according to People: "My mom was someone who juggled everything. She had her own career, she raised five kids, she was Superwoman. And she was never satisfied doing just one thing because … she probably just had too much energy. So for me, it was important to have that because that’s what I felt like I knew best." Every mom (and dad) should have a hero, whether it's her own mom, a friend, or just the mom she envisions herself being in the future.
"It's the perfect way to get what you want."
While speaking to Extra's A.J. Calloway at the 2014 Angel Ball, Lively threw her pregnant sisters under the bus, joking that cravings and other pregnancy complaints were just something that women made up to get their way. "You can exploit it if you want, but, uh..." OK, Dr. Lively, explain to me why I couldn't go a day without eating a coconut donut while pregnant, hmm? I'm not felling her on this one, but I've heard other women claim their pregnancies were wonderful and uneventful, so I guess someone out there can relate to this. Someone who might be a lying liar, but still...
"It's her life."
In 2015, Lively explained to Allure why she and Reynolds have chosen to shield their daughter, James, from the public eye. "She should have her privacy until she chooses not to have her privacy, just as I got to choose and my husband got to choose." Lively hid her first pregnancy until she was outed at seven months. James' birth was never announced, and her name remained a secret for about six months. She has not been photographed by the media. A parent's number one job is protecting their kids, famous or not.
"Everything is different."
"Everything is just heightened; we're crying all the time for no reason," Lively told the hosts of Live With Kelly & Michael in 2015. The actress gave examples of being terrified of hotel balconies, and getting only two hours of sleep a night. Yes, yes, and yes. Night nannies can't do it all, am I right?
"I actually didn't even buy any maternity clothes at all."
Wondering where Lively found all those gorgeous maternity gowns for her red carpet looks? Turns out they weren't even maternity clothes. The actress told In Style in 2015 that during her first pregnancy, "I just wore stretchier things and didn't button my pants and wore sweaters that were long enough so you couldn't tell." Similarly, I used a waistband extender so I could still wear my jeans in the first and second trimesters, so we are basically the same person.
"Having a baby is just living in the constant unexpected."
During a 2015 interview with the Los Angeles Times (while breastfeeding James, no less), Lively summed up life as the parent of newborn: "You never know when you're gonna get crapped on or when you're gonna get a big smile or when that smile immediately turns into hysterics. It might be like living with a drug addict. But you have a baby and you think, 'I can't imagine ever not having a baby,' because they grow up so quickly. I'd be an 80-year-old woman with a baby if I could." Famous moms: they're just like us, for the most part. Although I'm still side-eyeing her comments on maternity clothes and cravings.
